I was nominated by Tara Reed!
Totally unexpected and quite a sweet surprise. It was a busy week and I didn’t even find out about it till preparing for the “Ask Mary Englebreit” on the 17th. That was a great call on Art Licensing! I hope to write more on that in a few days.

I met Tara Reed through Twitter, just as she met the person who gave her the award. Twitter has been a great tool for me to meet other artists in every phase of their careers. I love being able to use social media to cultivate a larger worldly community of  artists and creative people of all types!

I am absoloutely humbled to be on her list of nominees. She has been immensely inspiring to me. Not simply because she is so successful in both Art Licensing and teaching others about it; but also her journey and dedication to her career as a single mother and her open and generous nature. To me she embodies the quote below, that kind of generous sincerity is the trait I admire most in others.

” Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”- Buddha

Kreative Blogger Award Comes with the following Requirements:

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

Seven things about me that may be of interest:

1. I can’t do art with out the presence of chocolate and coffee.
2. I spent a few years of my childhood on Guam- a wee little chunk of island in the Pacific Ocean.
3. I like bugs and my children often bring me numerous specimens in the summer. Unfortunately, they aren’t always dead- yet.
4. I believe every day has something about it that is worth celebrating.
5. I love to get muddy – in a garden.
6. I find the rain stimulating and comforting- more than sunshine, or at least the same.
7. My fantasy it to retire from “regular life” making money by  painting from an old farm house in Ireland.

My Seven Blogger Nominees are:

Joanne Giesbrecht: www.joannegiesbrecht.com
KathyOstman-Magnusen:http://kathyostman-magnusen.com/Kathy_Ostman-Magnusen_Art/Blog/Blog.html
Liza Myers:  http://www.elizabethmyers.vox.com/
Sherry Dole: Happy Tails
Catherine Somerlot: http://catherinesomerlot.com/blog/
Tara Larsen Chang: Silver Apples of the Moon
MelodyLeaLamb: http://melodylamb.blogspot.com/

See concept sketch and development phases

Literary Sketch

She knows the seal peoples coming and going. She watches the battles that brew between a race of the sea and a race of the land. Polution is bearing a heavy toll on the creatures of the sea, as the creatures suffer the magic is turning darker. The gentle selkie are not pleased.

Down in the deeps of the kelp forest she makes her home. She does not tolerate strangers well, so beware of bewitched kelp. To avoid the sting and strangle of the kelp you will want to spen dmuch time eating the plants of the sea so your scent and energy are more aligned to them.

She is also extra wicked in her desiring for shining and light filled objects. To win her welcome and get her to share her knowledge you need to use a large fresh water pearl. The properties of the pearl will also calm her temper and bring out her more noble side.

She has been completed for a while now. In some way I have had a hard time feeling done with this. The painting is done, but it has this half made story in my head that wants a more developed world.  I have seen the other creatures in the murky kelp- funky yellow eyed  brown molting and decrepit skin things with sharp teeth and eel like bodies. I need to sketch them out.

I will have to explore that all out more later in both the sketching and in the literary sense. Would like to develop  some amalgamation of a tentacled creature too- because so many limbs would be fun to play with.

I like to test my creations against the imagination and perception of my boys. They say it how it is, but that is great when they find weak areas. They also describe the character to me, and it helps me figure out if I am using the right illustrative language so to speak.

Can’t wait to share the springtime cute paintings I am working on soon. Cuddly bright fuzzy things that are not my usual subjects. Fun! I imagine that will lead to the things popping up in my garden soon as well.

Hope you are all bathed in much inspiration as the spring unfolds and the year continues to bloom!